Patents by Inventor Philip A. Chou

Philip A. Chou has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10262451
    Abstract: A machine accesses view maps that each corresponds to a different point on a surface of a three-dimensional object. The machine generates vectors of coefficients by calculating a corresponding transform of each view map. The vectors specify a corresponding coefficient for each basis function among a group of basis functions. For each basis function in the group, the machine generates a spatial representation of coefficients specified for that basis function across all of the accessed view maps, and then quantizes the spatial representation of coefficients for that basis function. The quantized spatial representation forms part of a group of quantized spatial representations of coefficients that corresponds to the accessed view maps. The machine then provides the group of quantized spatial representations of coefficients as a compressed version of the view maps. A decoder device can then approximate the view maps based on the group of quantized spatial representations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Xiang Zhang, Ming-Ting Sun, Ricardo de Queiroz
  • Patent number: 10242484
    Abstract: A machine can be specially configured to generate one or more atlases that include two-dimensional texture maps and their corresponding UV maps from a three-dimensional object, compress the atlases, decompress the atlases, store the atlases, access the atlases, communicate the atlases, apply the texture maps from the atlases to a three-dimensional model, or otherwise process the atlases, the texture maps, the UV maps, or any suitable combination thereof. The atlases, texture maps, UV maps, or any suitable combination thereof can be generated, compiled or otherwise created by the machine in a manner that is computationally efficient to compress and decompress using video compression and decompression techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Gianluca Cernigliaro, Philip A. Chou, Eugene Joseph d'Eon
  • Patent number: 10223810
    Abstract: Innovations in compression and decompression of point cloud data are described. For example, an encoder is configured to encode point cloud data, thereby producing encoded data. In particular, the encoder applies a region-adaptive hierarchical transform (“RAHT”) to attributes of occupied points, thereby producing transform coefficients. The encoder can also quantize the transform coefficients and perform adaptive entropy coding of the quantized transform coefficients. For corresponding decoding, a decoder is configured to decode the encoded data to reconstruct point cloud data. In particular, the decoder applies an inverse RAHT to transform coefficients for attributes of occupied points. The decoder can also perform adaptive entropy decoding and inverse quantization of the quantized transform coefficients. The adaptive entropy coding/decoding can use estimates of the distribution of values for the quantized transform coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Ricardo L. de Queiroz
  • Patent number: 10192353
    Abstract: A machine can be specially configured to generate, compress, decompress, store, access, communicate, or otherwise process a special data structure that represents a three-dimensional surface of an object. The data structure can be or include a pruned sparse voxel octree in which each node in the octree corresponds to a different block of the octree, and children of the node in the octree correspond to the smaller blocks that subdivide the block. Moreover, each block occupied by the surface or a portion thereof can define its enclosed surface or portion thereof explicitly or implicitly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Maja Krivokuca, Robert James William Higgs, Charles Loop, Eugene Joseph d'Eon
  • Patent number: 10187608
    Abstract: Techniques for managing visual compositions for a multimedia conference call are described. An apparatus may comprise a processor to allocate a display object bit rate for multiple display objects where a total display object bit rate for all display objects is equal to or less than a total input bit rate, and decode video information from multiple video streams each having different video layers with different levels of spatial resolution, temporal resolution and quality for two or more display objects. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Warren V. Barkley, Philip A. Chou, Regis J. Crinon, Tim Moore
  • Patent number: 10057151
    Abstract: A method comprising: collecting respective observations of end-end bandwidth experienced on different occasions by multiple past communications occurring over different respective observed paths over a network, each path comprising a respective plurality of network components; modelling each of the respective network components with a bandwidth probability function characterized by one or more parameters; and estimating a component bandwidth or component bandwidth probability density for each of the network components based on the modelling, by determining respective values for said parameters such that a combination of the component bandwidths or bandwidth probability densities for the network components in the observed paths approximately matches, according to an optimization process, the observations of the end-to-end bandwidth experienced by the past communications over the observed paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Christoffer Asgaard Rödbro, Philip A. Chou, Urun Dogan
  • Patent number: 10044982
    Abstract: A tele-immersive environment is described that provides interaction among participants of a tele-immersive session. The environment includes two or more set-ups, each associated with a participant. Each set-up, in turn, includes mirror functionality for presenting a three-dimensional virtual space for viewing by a local participant. The virtual space shows at least some of the participants as if the participants were physically present at a same location and looking into a mirror. The mirror functionality can be implemented as a combination of a semi-transparent mirror and a display device, or just a display device acting alone. According to another feature, the environment may present a virtual object in a manner that allows any of the participants of the tele-immersive session to interact with the virtual object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew D. Wilson, Zhengyou Zhang, Philip A. Chou, Neil S. Fishman, Donald M. Gillett, Hrvoje Benko
  • Patent number: 9883138
    Abstract: The description relates to remote collaboration via a telepresence experience. One example can include an interactive digital display. The example can also include a virtual user presentation component configured to generate a graphical user interface that includes a virtual representation of a remote user on the interactive digital display. The graphical user interface can be configured to present the remote user in a side by side or mirror image relationship to a local user of the interactive digital display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Yinpeng Chen, Philip A. Chou, Zhengyou Zhang
  • Publication number: 20170347122
    Abstract: Innovations in scalable compression and decompression of point cloud data are described. For example, after an encoder uses a transform such as a region-adaptive hierarchical transform (“RAHT”) on attributes of occupied points in point cloud data, the encoder separates transform coefficients into partitions. The partitions can be associated with different regions of a point cloud frame (spatial location scalability), different spatial resolutions of point cloud data (spatial resolution scalability), different reconstruction quality levels (SNR scalability), different point cloud frames organized in temporal layers (temporal resolution scalability), or different combinations of the preceding types of partitions. For decoding, a decoder can select all of the partitions or a subset of the partitions. The decoder decodes encoded data for the selected partitions, applying an inverse transform such as an inverse RAHT to transform coefficients for attributes of occupied points in point cloud data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2016
    Publication date: November 30, 2017
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Ricardo L. de Queiroz
  • Publication number: 20170347120
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are exemplary embodiments of innovations in the area of point cloud encoding and decoding. Example embodiments can reduce the computational complexity and/or computational resource usage during 3D video encoding by selectively encoding one or more 3D-point-cloud blocks using an inter-frame coding (e.g., motion compensation) technique that allows for previously encoded/decoded frames to be used in predicting current frames being encoded. Alternatively, one or more 3D-point-cloud block can be encoded using an intra-frame encoding approach. The selection of which encoding mode to use can be based, for example, on a threshold that is evaluated relative to rate-distortion performance for both intra-frame and inter-frame encoding. Still further, embodiments of the disclosed technology can use one or more voxel-distortion-correction filters to correct distortion errors that may occur during voxel compression.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2016
    Publication date: November 30, 2017
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Ricardo L. de Queiroz
  • Publication number: 20170347100
    Abstract: Innovations in compression and decompression of point cloud data are described. For example, an encoder is configured to encode point cloud data, thereby producing encoded data. In particular, the encoder applies a region-adaptive hierarchical transform (“RAHT”) to attributes of occupied points, thereby producing transform coefficients. The encoder can also quantize the transform coefficients and perform adaptive entropy coding of the quantized transform coefficients. For corresponding decoding, a decoder is configured to decode the encoded data to reconstruct point cloud data. In particular, the decoder applies an inverse RAHT to transform coefficients for attributes of occupied points. The decoder can also perform adaptive entropy decoding and inverse quantization of the quantized transform coefficients. The adaptive entropy coding/decoding can use estimates of the distribution of values for the quantized transform coefficients.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2016
    Publication date: November 30, 2017
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Ricardo L. de Queiroz
  • Publication number: 20170324934
    Abstract: Techniques for managing visual compositions for a multimedia conference call are described. An apparatus may comprise a processor to allocate a display object bit rate for multiple display objects where a total display object bit rate for all display objects is equal to or less than a total input bit rate, and decode video information from multiple video streams each having different video layers with different levels of spatial resolution, temporal resolution and quality for two or more display objects. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2017
    Publication date: November 9, 2017
    Applicant: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Warren V. Barkley, Philip A. Chou, Regis J. Crinon, Tim Moore
  • Publication number: 20170201722
    Abstract: A tele-immersive environment is described that provides interaction among participants of a tele-immersive session. The environment includes two or more set-ups, each associated with a participant. Each set-up, in turn, includes mirror functionality for presenting a three-dimensional virtual space for viewing by a local participant. The virtual space shows at least some of the participants as if the participants were physically present at a same location and looking into a mirror. The mirror functionality can be implemented as a combination of a semi-transparent mirror and a display device, or just a display device acting alone. According to another feature, the environment may present a virtual object in a manner that allows any of the participants of the tele-immersive session to interact with the virtual object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Publication date: July 13, 2017
    Inventors: Andrew D. Wilson, Zhengyou Zhang, Philip A. Chou, Neil S. Fishman, Donald M. Gillett, Hrvoje Benko
  • Patent number: 9641805
    Abstract: A tele-immersive environment is described that provides interaction among participants of a tele-immersive session. The environment includes two or more set-ups, each associated with a participant. Each set-up, in turn, includes mirror functionality for presenting a three-dimensional virtual space for viewing by a local participant. The virtual space shows at least some of the participants as if the participants were physically present at a same location and looking into a mirror. The mirror functionality can be implemented as a combination of a semi-transparent mirror and a display device, or just a display device acting alone. According to another feature, the environment may present a virtual object in a manner that allows any of the participants of the tele-immersive session to interact with the virtual object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew D. Wilson, Zhengyou Zhang, Philip A. Chou, Neil S. Fishman, Donald M. Gillett, Hrvoje Benko
  • Patent number: 9635314
    Abstract: Techniques for managing visual compositions for a multimedia conference call are described. An apparatus may comprise a processor to allocate a display object bit rate for multiple display objects where a total display object bit rate for all display objects is equal to or less than a total input bit rate, and decode video information from multiple video streams each having different video layers with different levels of spatial resolution, temporal resolution and quality for two or more display objects. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Warren V Barkley, Philip A Chou, Regis J Crinon, Tim Moore
  • Patent number: 9536312
    Abstract: A depth construction module is described that receives depth images provided by two or more depth capture units. Each depth capture unit generates its depth image using a structured light technique, that is, by projecting a pattern onto an object and receiving a captured image in response thereto. The depth construction module then identifies at least one deficient portion in at least one depth image that has been received, which may be attributed to overlapping projected patterns that impinge the object. The depth construction module then uses a multi-view reconstruction technique, such as a plane sweeping technique, to supply depth information for the deficient portion. In another mode, a multi-view reconstruction technique can be used to produce an entire depth scene based on captured images received from the depth capture units, that is, without first identifying deficient portions in the depth images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Cha Zhang, Wenwu Zhu, Zhengyou Zhang, Philip A. Chou
  • Publication number: 20160352606
    Abstract: A method comprising: collecting respective observations of end-end bandwidth experienced on different occasions by multiple past communications occurring over different respective observed paths over a network, each path comprising a respective plurality of network components; modelling each of the respective network components with a bandwidth probability function characterized by one or more parameters; and estimating a component bandwidth or component bandwidth probability density for each of the network components based on the modelling, by determining respective values for said parameters such that a combination of the component bandwidths or bandwidth probability densities for the network components in the observed paths approximately matches, according to an optimization process, the observations of the end-to-end bandwidth experienced by the past communications over the observed paths.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2016
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christoffer Asgaard Rödbro, Philip A. Chou, Urun Dogan
  • Patent number: 9462118
    Abstract: A mediation server for controlling contents of incoming and outgoing communication information exchanged as part of a conversation is provided. The mediation server may be a centralized server between an internal (private) network and an external network, utilized for enforcing the internal network's policy and detecting a potential security compromise in the internal network. Predefined evaluation criteria are utilized to enforce internal policy or security policy within the internal network. When communication information is exchanged, the mediation server may monitor potential policy or security breaches in the communication information utilizing the predefined evaluation criteria and execute an appropriate action to prevent potential policy or security breaches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Michael D. Malueg, Philip A. Chou, Scott C. Forbes, Timothy M. Moore
  • Patent number: 9444714
    Abstract: A method comprising: collecting respective observations of end-end bandwidth experienced on different occasions by multiple past communications occurring over different respective observed paths over a network, each path comprising a respective plurality of network components; modelling each of the respective network components with a bandwidth probability function characterized by one or more parameters; and estimating a component bandwidth or component bandwidth probability density for each of the network components based on the modelling, by determining respective values for said parameters such that a combination of the component bandwidths or bandwidth probability densities for the network components in the observed paths approximately matches, according to an optimization process, the observations of the end-to-end bandwidth experienced by the past communications over the observed paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christoffer Asgaard Rödbro, Philip A. Chou, Urun Dogan
  • Publication number: 20160205353
    Abstract: A tele-immersive environment is described that provides interaction among participants of a tele-immersive session. The environment includes two or more set-ups, each associated with a participant. Each set-up, in turn, includes mirror functionality for presenting a three-dimensional virtual space for viewing by a local participant. The virtual space shows at least some of the participants as if the participants were physically present at a same location and looking into a mirror. The mirror functionality can be implemented as a combination of a semi-transparent mirror and a display device, or just a display device acting alone. According to another feature, the environment may present a virtual object in a manner that allows any of the participants of the tele-immersive session to interact with the virtual object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2016
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Inventors: Andrew D. Wilson, Zhengyou Zhang, Philip A. Chou, Neil S. Fishman, Donald M. Gillett, Hrvoje Benko